So often I’ve told people about good YouTube channels I’m subscribed to. There really is some great stuff out there – much of it made by individuals who have started with nothing.
Here is a curated list from my favourite YouTube channels. I hope you enjoy it!
Channels are in alphabetical order – trying to prioritise them is impossible!
Big Clive Dot Com
Take electronics stuff apart and reverse engineers circuits to say whether it’s good/bad/deadly.
He lives in the Isle of Man and has worked in entertainment industry all his life.
In addition to his normal top-down stuff he also has some interesting behind the scene stuff at the Edinburg tattoo where he works every year.
Bill Wurtz
I described this guy to someone recently as ‘what I imagine the inside of a teenage Japanese girl on drugs would look like’.
He’s been doing weird music stuff on Youtube for years but came to my attention when he produced a couple of really amazing factual videos.
Bright Sun Films
Budding documentary maker who I stumbled upon through his ‘Abandonned’ series of videos.
Captain Disillusion
You’ll like this one – all about visual effects.
He uses his knowledge to debunk fake video and create some very interesting videos.
He’s recently branched out into making videos explaining video technology – you’ll find them in the Knowledge section!
CGP Grey
He’s known for putting out very well researched videos animated in his signature stick-man style, It takes him a long time to make them so doesn’t post very often (in fact he seems to have disappeared in the last year).
Definitely another one to binge watch his entire history.
Cody’s Lab
Bit of a strange one that you’ll either like or find really boring. Cody is a backyard scientist who really knows his chemistry.
He does things like mining his own ore then smelting it, recovering different elements from stuff and lots of things with chemistry.
He’s been banned from youtube a few times because his videos (which are essentially educational) have broken YouTubes policy for inappropriate content.
Colin Furze
Crazy British average guy who tinkers in his shed but has become known for creating crazy stuff without any care for health and safety. Over the years his tool kit has grown and he now has 3d printers and plasma cutters but in older videos there was a lot of machining with a lathe.
Computerphile
Sister channel to Numberphile originally coming out of Nottingham Trent University – made by a guy called Sean Perry who used to work at OmniBus.
Too many videos to watch the back catalogue but some have been very interesting – one to browse and see if anything takes your fancy.
Defunctland
Originally stsarted making documentaries about abandonned plans for Disneyland and other theme parks but more recently has been branching out into general docuementaries.
His series on the history of the Muppets is amazing and wouldn’t look out of place on broadcast TV!
ElectroBOOM
Amazing guy, Iranian I think but now living in Canada. He really knows his electronics but has frequent ‘accidents’ which make it look like he’s a careless amateur to people who don’t realise. He’s recently started trying to post a wider variety of stuff including more specific educational videos.
Extra Credits
Part historical education and part gaming channel, with simple animation style that is easy to watch. Long stories are typically broken down into 8-10 min videos. They follow up each series with a ‘what lies we told’ episode so they take the fact seriously.
The Engineer Guy
Doesn’t post too many videos but has made some good content. He’s written a book on the R101 airship which you can freely download as an audiobook.
Gaming Historian
Another geeky one but the guy behind it does a great job of telling compelling stories with well research content.
Geoff Marshall
Very geeky one from a guy who is obsessed with railways (specifically not trains), as a Londoner he focusses a lot on the tube and generally makes videos that often feel like a waste of time but are oddly watchable.
Half as Interesting
The same guy as Wendover Productions and very similar videos explaining interesting things you may not know. One to binge watch as most of his stuff is good.
Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell
Nicely animated from a team in Germany who make thought provoking pieces about a wide range of topics.
Mark Rober
Average American Dad with an Engineering mind who like to investigate things and use engineering techniques to do lots of interesting stuff – like building the worlds largest super soaker or figuring out how to skip stones.
Mentour Pilot
Pilot (and pat time Flight Instructor) who works for RyanAir (not that he mentions this as the channel as his channel is independant).
Great to get insight into the world of professional pilots and some behind the scenes understanding of Boeing 737 (which is what he flies).
Minute Physics
One of the first channels that got me into YouTube and possibly the original person to do ‘animated sketch with pens’ style. He’s built an empire so the video production has changed somewhat in recent years (not quite as engaging in my opinion) but still always good to learn new things. He also has a channel called MinuteEarth with a very similar style but more broad focus on science and the environment.
Numberphile
Sister channel to Computerphile – also originally out of Nottingham Trent university. Basically different maths lecturers explaining interesting things – typically drawing on large sheets of brown paper. May interesting ones but also lots I end up skipping.
Physics Girl
Physics concepts and practical demonstrations which are pitched at a low-medium level so very accessible for all.
Originally independant but now produced by PBS Studios.
Frequently collaborates with Derek from Veritasium.
Poly Matter
Yet another type of interesting topics with a particular animated style. More focussed on the business/company side of technology.
Practical Engineering
Nice guy who focusses on mechanical engineering and builds things to help explain concepts.
SciShow
Long running channel with new videos each week discussing current topics and digging into questions asked by viewers.
Minimal visual content which can sometimes be frustrating but a good one to have in your subscription feed as you can always skip over things that aren’t of interest.
Smarter Everyday
Hi I’m Destin – ex-rocket engineer turned youtuber who like to expand his knowledge – some of the best videos out there.
Sound Field
Analyse and deconstruct music covering lots of genres.
Standup Maths
You may recognise this guy from many numberphile videos. Matt Parker is a mathmetician and author who makes interestng videos linked to mathmatical concepts
This Week Tonight with John Oliver
I subscribe to a few US topical shows to keep up to date on the craziness that Donald Trump is up to (Steven Colbert, Trevor Noah are the best if you like the sound of that). This is the only one worth adding to this list though. The show is on HBO so goes into investigative stories in a lot more depth (and with much higher budgets) some of his exposés about power and wealth in the US or issues with healthcare are downright scary.
Tom Scott
Long time youtuber who has a few different series such as ‘things you might not know’ and ‘Amazing Places’ – thanks to his subscriber base he often ends up finding out about things you’ve never heard of.
Veritasium
Australian guy who creates some very well produced and well scripted science videos.
Wendover Productions
Same guy as Half as Interesting – some interesting videos.
Walk Off The Earth
Canadian band who became YouTube sensations for their video with al 5 of them playing 1 guitar (sort of). Some really clever videos, mostly covers of popular songs but also doing more of their own stuff recently. Went to see them in concert in London and they didn’t disappoint!